Shawangunk Mountains

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Shawangunk Mountains
Shawangunk Ridge
Shawangunk Ridge from Sky Top

Shawangunk Ridge from Sky Top

height 698  m
location Ulster County , New York , USA
Mountains Appalachian Mountains
Coordinates 41 ° 42 ′ 14 "  N , 74 ° 20 ′ 41"  W Coordinates: 41 ° 42 ′ 14 "  N , 74 ° 20 ′ 41"  W
Shawangunk Mountains (New York)
Shawangunk Mountains
Type Mountain ridge
View of Shawangunk Ridge from New Paltz

The Shawangunk Mountains ( ʃɑːwəŋɡʌŋk ), also known as Shawangunk Ridge or The Gunks for short , are a mountain range in Ulster , Sullivan and Orange Counties of the US state of New York , which stretch from the northeasternmost point of New Jersey to the Catskill Mountains extends. The Shawangunk Mountains are part of the long, easternmost ridge of the Appalachians , which runs as Kittatinny Mountain in New Jersey and Blue Mountain in Pennsylvania . The Shawangunk Mountains form the western limit of the Great Appalachian Valley here .

The map shows the Shawangunk Mountains as a red-dashed line.

On the ridge, which widens significantly at its northern end, there are several protected areas in private and public hands; it is sparsely populated; the only larger settlement is Cragsmoor . In the past, the Shawangunk Mountains were known for mining, logging, and a heyday for harvesting blueberries . To encourage the growth of these, fires were often set to burn away the undergrowth.

In the present day, the Shawangunk Mountains are a destination for outdoor activities, especially as one of the great climbing areas in North America. They are also known for their biodiversity and their scenic character. The ridge has been identified by The Nature Conservancy as a significant area of ​​their landscape conservation programs.

Surname

The English name Shawangunk is derived from the Dutch Scha-wan-gunk, the closest transcription from a colonial document with the Munsee Lenape .

The Lenape linguist Raymond Whritenour states that shawan is a blank intransitive verb and means something like "there is smoky air" or "there is smoky air". The associated participle is shaky and means "that which is smoky air". The addition of the ending for the locative results in schawangunk , ie "in the smoky air".

Whritenour assumes that the name has its origin in the burning down of a Munsee fort by the Dutch at the eastern foot of the ridge in 1663. This massacre ended the Second Esopus War . The use of the name spread rapidly and was used in numerous land documents and ordinances after this war. The historian Marc B. Fried writes:

“It is conceivable that this was… the Indians' own proper name for their village [and fort] and that the name was appropriated for use in subsequent land dealings because of the proximity of the… tracts to the former Indian village. ... The second possibility is that the name simply came into existence in connection with the Bruyn [purchase of Jan., 1682, the first appearance of the name in documentary record], as a phrase invented by the Indians to describe some feature of the landscape . ”

“It is conceivable that this ... was the native name of the Indians for their village and that the name became relevant for use in subsequent land transactions because of the proximity of the ... areas to the former Indian village. ... The second possibility is that the name in connection with the Bruyn [purchased in January 1682, the first appearance of the name in documentary records], was a phrase invented by the Indians to describe a feature of the landscape. "

Fried also wrote that the rapid spread of the name in legal documents indicates that the name was in use even before the Bruyn land purchase. The name Shawangunk does not appear anywhere in the translated extensive description of the Second Esopus War as a name for the fort. Shawangunk was connected to the ridge from the 18th century.

In the Lenape pronunciation, the word is three-syllable, Sha-wan-gun , but is spelled with a fourth syllable in an 18th century document. The correct pronunciation approximates to sha (with a short a) - wan (as in want) - goon (as in book), and the k below is mute and changes the sound of the n.

European settlers began to shorten Shawangunk to "Shongum" ( ˈʃɑːn.ɡʌm ). Shongum was erroneously referred to as the pronunciation of the Munsee by the Reverend Charles Scott when he wrote on the etymology of the term Shawangunk on behalf of the Ulster County Historical Society in 1861. The mistake has been spread in ethological and geographical texts on the region for more than 140 years.

Both "Shawangunk" and "Shongum" are common forms among locals born in the region, and "The Gunks" has also been a common form of name for the mountain ridge since the mid-19th century. In a letter of August 1838 from the painter Thomas Cole to AB Durand he wrote: “Do let me hear from you when you get among the Gunks . I hope you will find every thing there your heart can wish. " The Shawangunks were a motif for several painters from the Hudson River School , especially in the area around Lake Mohonk .

geography

The Shawangunk Mountains form the northern end of a long range of the Appalachian Mountains that begins in Virginia , where it is known as North Mountain, which then runs through Pennsylvania as Blue Mountain and is called the Kittatinny Mountains after crossing the Delaware Water Gap in New Jersey . North of the New York state line, it is then called Shawangunk Ridge. This mountain range forms the western and northern edges of the Great Appalachian Valley.

The ridge has its greatest width (around 12 km) not far from its northern end and is narrowest in the middle section with a width of less than two kilometers; it has its maximum height of 698 m near Lake Maratanza . It rises above a wide plateau that extends eastward to the Hudson River . To the west, the low foothills of the Appalachian Mountains merge with a lowland plain created by Rondout Creek and Sandburgh Creek, the Basha Kill and other small streams, and at the southern end by the Neversink River and the Delaware River . These adjacent valleys rest on relatively soft sedimentary rocks, including sandstone, slate, and limestone.

nature

The diversity of vegetation along the Shawangunk Mountains is unusually high; here grow species that usually occur further north or south or those that otherwise only occur in the coastal plain. The result is an area in which many regionally rare plants are found, also at the limits of their range. Other rare species in this area are those that are adapted to the harsh conditions on the ridge. Occurring upland plant communities include chestnut oak and mixed oak forests, pine wasteland including dwarf pine ridge, hemlock northern hardwood forest, and cliff-and- talus and cave communities. The wetlands include small lakes and streams, bogs, pitch pine and blueberry peat bogs, a white cypress inland swamp, red maple swamps, acid seepage springs , lime seepage springs, and a few reed beds .

geology

Awosting Falls in the Minnewaska State Park Preserve . The cliff consists of layers of conglomerate.

The mountain ridge consists mainly of the Shawangunk Formation , a hard, silicon - cemented conglomerate of white quartz pebbles and sandstone . This is directly superimposed on the Martinsburg Formation , which is a mighty turbidite sequence made of dark gray claystone and greywacke . It was deposited in a deep ocean during the Ordovician (470 million years ago), and the Shawangunk conglomerate was deposited over the Martinsburg shale by wide interlaced rivers during the Silurian (about 420 million years ago) ; both series of sedimentary rocks were deformed and uplifted during the Permian (about 270 million years ago). As a result of this deformation, the strata in the ridge are tied into the northward descending sequence of asymmetrical anticlines and synclines that slopes gently to the west. The same folds also affect the strata overlying the Shawangunk Formation, pending north of the Shawangunk Ridge at Rosendale and visible in abandoned cement pits. The layers are frayed by erosion along the eastern edge of the Shawangunk Mountains, resulting in the towering cliffs that are characteristic of the Shawangunk Mountains. The Shawangunk conglomerate is hard and resistant to weathering, whereas the underlying slate erodes relatively easily. As a result, the quartz conglomerate forms the cliffs and scree slopes, especially on the east side of the ridge.

The entire ridge was glaciated during the last (Wisconsin) Ice Age , creating the ridges, the remains of boulder clay and the deposited talus heaps on the east side of the ridge. On the back, the soils are generally thin, fairly acidic, poor in nutrients, and dry, but there are lakes and wetlands here and there in depressions and other sections where the water is held by the bedrock or boulder clay . The soils on the claystone are thicker, less acidic and more fertile. The topography in the northern part of Shawangunk is irregular because of a series of faults; there are secondary plateaus and steep slopes.

Ice caves

Ice caves are deep crevices in the bedrock that contain ice even during the summer; they create a cool microenvironment that allows plants to thrive that are commonly found further north, such as black spruce , hemlock, rowan berries and Gaultheria hispidula, and mosses such as Isopterygium distichaceum . They are concentrated near Sam's Point in the northern Shawangunks. Larger limestone caverns are found along the lower slopes in the valleys of Rondout Creek and Delaware River.

Lakes and wetlands in the area of ​​the Shawangunks are mainly on the flat ridges at their northern and southern ends and, somewhat less frequently, on the western side in their central section. These are rather clear, poor in nutrients and very acidic, which is related to the low storage capacity of the subsoil. There are five lakes in northern Shawangunks, from north to south they are: Mohonk Lake, Lake Minnewaska , Lake Awosting , Mud Pond, and Lake Maratanza . The pH in four of these lakes is around 4 (very acidic); only Lake Mohonk, which is partly on mudstone, has a more neutral pH value.

Public land and protected areas

In the Bear Hill Preserve in Cragsmoor

Much of the Shawangunks consists of public land and several smaller settlement areas. The north is largely protected by the Minnewaska State Park Preserve , which is also managed by Sam's Point Preserve with over 160 km of hiking trails and several climbing areas. Shawangunk Ridge State Forest and Witches Hole State Forest followed in 2007. The long-distance hiking Long Path follows the ridge from Sullivan County to the vicinity of Kerhonkson ; south of it, the Shawangunk Ridge Trail connects to the Appalachian Trail at High Point . There are several old cart tracks across the Shawangunks, including Smiley Road from Ellenville to Minnewaska State Park Preserve, and Old Plank Road and Old Mountain Road in Shawangunk Ridge State Forest. Many of the footpaths are maintained by the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference .

Several waterfalls exist along Shawangunk Ridge, including: VerKeerderkill Falls , Awosting Falls , Buttermilk Falls, and VerNooykill Falls .

In 2004 the plan to build luxury apartments jeopardized the ridge line and a grassroots movement against the plans gained popularity in the area. In 2006 a court ordered the private owner to sell a property to end legal proceedings brought by a building contractor. The Open Space Institute acquired the land and assigned it to the Minnewaska State Park Preserve.

Unlike the large publicly owned land in the Shawangunk Ridge area, the Mohonk Preserve is owned by a private land trust, for which a daily fee must be paid depending on the purpose.

free time activities

The Trapps and Route 44/55, view from Millbrook Ridge Trail

The Shawangunk Ridge Trail begins on the Appalachian Trail in High Point State Park in New Jersey and runs for a length of around 40 miles north to Sam's Point Preserve in New York. This trail generally follows the Shawangunk Ridge, using abandoned roads and former railway lines in places.

The development of rock climbing in the Shawangunks is attributed to Fritz Wiessner and Hans Kraus . The climbing areas are concentrated around the four large cliffs of the mountain ridge : Millbrook , Near Trapps , The Trapps and Skytop . Of these, The Trapps is the longest and most popular cliff with climbers and the easiest to get to; most of the Shawangunks' climbing routes are here. The Near Trapps are located on Route 44/88 directly across from The Trapps and follow their popularity. Millbrook mountain is the highest and most southerly cliff, but also the most remote and therefore the least climbed. Skytop belongs to the Mohonk Mountain House , here you can only climb under the guidance of authorized guides. Rock climbing is also permitted at Peters Kill and Dickie Barre in the Minnewaska State Park Preserve. The height of the cliffs varies, and the tallest is just under 100 m.

literature

  • Philip H. Smith: Legends of the Shawangunk (Shon-Gum) and its environs, including historical sketches, biographical notices, and thrilling border incidents and adventures relating to those portions of the counties of Orange, Ulster and Sullivan lying in the Shawangunk region ( = Genealogy & local history. LH17232). Smith & Co., Pawling, NY 1887 ( archive.org ).
  • David Church, John Myers, Todd Richardson: Shawangunk Ridge conservation and design guidebook. Catskill Center for Conservation and Development, Arkville, NY 1993 OCLC 28953410 .
  • Ronald G. Knapp, Michael Neil O'Donnell: The Gunks (Shawangunk Mountains): ridge and valley towns through time (= America through time ). 2015, ISBN 978-1-63500-014-6 .

supporting documents

  1. ↑ Shawangunk Mountains ( English ) In: Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey . Retrieved June 23, 2017.
  2. ^ The Nature Conservancy in New York. nature.org, archived from the original on December 2, 2008 ; accessed on June 29, 2017 (English).
  3. ↑ Christopher Spatz: Smoke Signals. In: Shawangunk Watch Volume 10, No. 1 (Spring 2005) ( shawangunks.org PDF, p. 2)
  4. ^ Marc B. Fried: Shawangunk place-names. Indian, Dutch, and English geographical names of the Shawangunk Mountain region. Their origin, interpretation, and historical evolution . Marc B. Fried, Gardiner, NY 2005, ISBN 0-9663351-2-0 , pp. 5-8 .
  5. ↑ Ulster County archives
  6. ^ Susan B. Wick - Clove Valley Lenni Lenape 'historian and medicine woman.
  7. ↑ Touching Leaves Woman et al.
  8. ↑ Christopher Spatz: The Vast Shon-gum Conspiracy. In: Shawangunk Watch Volume 12, No. 2 (Fall / Winter 2006)
  9. ^ Document of the Daniel Smiley Research Center, Mohonk Preserve via New York State Museum
  10. ↑ Todd Swain: The Gunks Guide  (= Regional Rock Climbing). Falcon Guides, December 1, 2004, ISBN 0-7627-3836-7 .
  11. ^ Significant Habitats and Habitat Complexes of the New York Bight Watershed. US Fish & Wildlife Service ( nctc.fws.gov ).
  12. ↑ George Burbank Shattuck: Some Geological Rambles Near Vassar College . The Lord Baltimore Press, Baltimore 1907, pp. 10 ( archive.org ).
  13. ^ Laura Waterman, Guy Waterman, S. Peter Lewis: The Gunks Discovered: 1935–1945 . In: Yankee Rock & Ice. A History of Climbing in the Northeastern United States . Stackpole Books, Harrisburg, PA 2001, ISBN 0-8117-3103-0 , pp. 117 ff . ( books.google.de ).
  14. ^ Mohonk Preserve 50th Anniversary | Mohonk Preserve . Archived from the original on December 19, 2015. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved January 20, 2016. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.mohonkpreserve.org
  15. ↑ Hours and Fees | Mohonk Preserve . Archived from the original on February 4, 2016. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved January 20, 2016. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.mohonkpreserve.org
  16. ↑ Susan EB Schwartz: JFK's Secret Doctor: The Remarkable Life of Medical Pioneer and Legendary Rock Climber Hans Kraus . Skyhorse, 2015, ISBN 978-1-63450-951-0 , chapter 16 ( books.google.de ).
  17. ^ David Roberts: Escape Routes . The Mountaineers Books, Seattle 1998, ISBN 978-0-89886-601-8 , pp. 195 ( books.google.de ).
  18. ↑ Dick Williams: The Climber's Guide to the Shawangunks - The Trapp ( English ), 3rd edition, Vulgarian Press, High Falls, NY 2004, ISBN 0-9646949-1-3 , S. 42nd
  19. ↑ Dick Williams: The Climber's Guide to the Shawangunks - The Near Trapps - Millbrook ( English ), 2nd edition, Vulgarian Press, High Falls, NY 2008, ISBN 0-9646949-2-1 , p. Xxxiv.
  20. ↑ Dick Williams: The Climber's Guide to the Shawangunks - The Near Trapps - Millbrook ( English ), 2nd edition, Vulgarian Press, High Falls, NY 2008, ISBN 0-9646949-2-1 , p. 230.
  21. ↑ David Crothers: Minnewaska's Dickie Barre Area Open To Climbing ( English ) April 15, 2013. Retrieved December 5, 2014.

Web links